The NaNoRenO Game Show: Allez cuisine – Start Cooking, Chefs!!!

PREVIOUSLY:Your cosplaying hosts announced the 1st Challenge – cooking! Can these chefs handle the heat of the kitchen? Will anyone get chopped? Don’t wait any longer and find out now!
[Prince Zel immediately starts rummaging through the pots and pans, his concentration showing plain as day on his face as he tries to decide on what dishes to cook. He starts murmuring to himself as he looks for ingredients in the shelf nearby, counting off items on his mental checklist. Occasionally, while Prince Zel is cooking, he will hum a tune softly, eliciting a smile from Princess Charming.

The rest of the team starts chatting among themselves, discussing how to prepare for the next challenge that awaits.

Meanwhile, with Beretta on the line to provide advice, Banality Man makes three slices of artisanal toast—whole wheat for breakfast, rye for lunch, and sourdough for dinner.]

Zheng: Hm, I guess since I’ll be handling the brunt of the work, I’d best start from the top. …You’re sure you know what you’re doing with the congee, Princess?

Princess Yanyu: How little do you think of me? I can handle myself!

Zheng: Yeah, of course, just checking, sorry I asked.

Princess Yanyu:(Now… Was it eight cups water to one cup rice? Ten cups?)

[With Zheng’s back turned, the Princess hastily dumped several more cups of water into the pot in front of her, before looking mildly pleased with herself.

On the other side of the room, Bianca, Ettore and Cecil are surprisingly concentrated as they make the food. When Cecil finishes prepping the dough, he dons a pair of oven mitts and puts it into a pre-heated oven. With that done, he gingerly puts the oven mitts aside, and decides to check on his friends. He walks over to Ettore, who’s begun to simmer the soup.]

Cecil: Um, so… what kind of soup were you planning on making, anyways?

Ettore: Ah, this is a kind of three-mushroom soup. It’s kind of hard to gather all the ingredients for it back in Norbury, so I don’t cook it very often. But… hm. It’s described in the recipe book as an “excellent choice for dinner.”

[The young wolf peers into the pot, and Ettore lifts up a ladle of its contents to take a sip.]

Cecil: Is it turning out okay?

Ettore: Mm. I think so!

Cecil: Granville taught me how to make the recipe I’m baking in the oven right now… so I hope it, er, goes okay with it.

Ettore: Be careful not to let it burn or anything, okay?

[He shoots a smile and nudges Cecil’s shoulder, to assure him he was joking. The latter lets out a nervous laugh.]
Cecil: I’ll try my best…!

[Ettore nods and turns his attention back to the timer he’s set.

Over by the hockey players’ work station, Paige set up the pans on the stove while Blake preheated the oven. He purposely asked for ingredients one at a time so Colt had to take a dozen extra trips around the kitchen.]

Colt: Enjoy it while it lasts, Blake.

[Blake smirked at him as he quickly whipped up the crepe mix along with a cream cheese filling. Paige was busy trying to figure out how the miniature deep fryer worked without giving herself third degree burns.]

Blake: These are like super thin pancakes, right? What a pain in the a–.

Colt: Oh you better believe it. They will be the greatest cut strawberries you’ve ever seen!

Blake: Idiot…

Jordan: Your crepe is burning, Blake.

Blake: Son of a…

[Blake quickly tossed the first attempt and tried again.]

Ambrosia: It’s nice to see everyone enjoying themselves.

Wildfire: You sure? They’re running around like scared mice.

Night: Here comes one of them now.

Banality Man: Sorry, uh, I’m bad with names, but the breakfast whole wheat toast is for Vi, the rye whole wheat toast is for Arsenal, and the sourdough dinner toast is for, um, you know, that person with the hair over there.

Night: All right. I’ll assume the breakfast plate is for me since Onyx isn’t an option.

Arsenik: Arsenik of the Hulder. But I can understand the confusion since the Valkyrie was the one who introduced me. As for the last one…I’m not quite sure what you mean.

Wildfire: Who are you talking about?

Night: Hmm…well, it can’t be Chase since his head’s covered. He probably means you.

Wildfire: Because my hair isn’t boring like Ambrosia’s and Wind’s?

Wind: No, it’s because your hair’s weird.

Wildfire: Shut your mouth. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Ambrosia: I don’t suppose you could clear the matter up for us, could you, Sir Banality Man?

Banality Man: Yes, yes, I definitely meant you [points Wildfire] with the… interesting hair. Not that I have anything against interesting hair! No, sir. I’m just saying that you look more like an Austin fellow than a Dallas fellow, if you know what I mean. You can have the dinner sourdough.

[Wildfire’s brows scrunch in confusion at his mention of Austin and Dallas, but in the end, she just shrugs.]

Wildfire: Well, all right.

[She snatches up the dinner plate and chomps into the sourdough.]

Arsenik: It would make more sense to taste this in order, wouldn’t it?

Wildfire: Says who? If that’s what you really want, then hurry up, you slowpoke.

Night: Yes, Arsenik. You don’t want to keep Banality Man waiting.

[As Night starts on the whole wheat, Arsenik shakes his head with a small smile and a sigh. He lifts the rye toast to his lips for a bite.]

Wildfire: I would like it better with meat, but it has the chops to stand on its own. What are we rating this out of again?

Night: Five stars. I’ll give it… a 3.

Wildfire: Right. Well, I’ll give it 3 and a half. I would’ve given it five if it came with a nice, big slab of something juicy.

Arsenik: I can see it takes skill to make bread of this caliber, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s serving bread alone for lunch. It lacks variety. 2 stars.

Night: But there is a definite theme, which deserves five stars. That brings his score to 13 and a half stars.

Wind: Wow. Way to make it a weird number, Wildfire.

Wildfire: I stand by my score. Next.

Zheng: Hey! Mind your own business! Don’t you have radishes to slice?

[Zheng swatted a hand in the general direction of the Prince, who was peering with great interest at the mixing bowl Zheng held.]

Prince Shun: Ah. Well, I finished cutting everything up, and I have never seen anyone prepare youtiao from scratch…

Zheng: Fine. You can help, but don’t get in my way.

[Shun’s features seemed to light up at Zheng’s begrudging acceptance.]

Zheng: …It’s like I adopted a kid, but he’s a grown adult.

[Paige threw some butter in the pan and opened up the cheese fridge again.]

Paige: I’ve never had so many options before. Such a tough decision.

[After careful debate, she ended up choosing cheddar, gouda, and swiss based on personal preference.]

Paige: I’m so raiding this fridge later.

[With the Prince’s help, Zheng had the dough prepared in no time and was readying the frying oil.]

Zheng: I think you should probably stand back, junior.

Prince Shun:“Junior”?!

[Zheng dropped the dough into the oil, and as it sizzled and crackled loudly, the Prince looked slightly taken aback. Zheng, however, was calmly rolling the stick of dough gently in the oil with a pair of chopsticks.]

Prince Shun: Oh. I see.

[The Prince’s surprise turned into amazement as Zheng pulled out a fresh youtiao from the oil, resting it on a cooling rack and letting the excess oil drip off. He looked like he’d just witnessed a great scientific reveal, but it was actually just a piece of dough getting fried.]

[Cecil decides to see how Bianca is doing. As he walks over, he notices that some of Bianca’s food is already plated; laid out on a large plate is a couple of golden brown, crispy-looking hashbrowns, set next to a juicy serving of sliced sausages and a small stack of three pancakes, topped with butter and syrup…]

[She gathers the rest of the egg to the middle of the pan, breaks up the scramble, and cooks it evenly. When she finishes, she uses her spatula to take it off of the pan and onto the vacant space on the plate with a satisfied smile.]

Bianca: There. With its breakfast brethren, where it belongs.

Cecil: You were decided to serve it with orange juice instead, right?

Bianca: Yeah, but I’m only going to take the juice out of the fridge right before we serve it. It’s the kinda drink that’s best served cold.

Zheng: How did the congee turn out?

Princess Yanyu: See for yourself!

[The Princess proudly presented a large serving bowl of congee. She ladled a small amount into a second bowl and handed it to Zheng. A third bowl went to Prince Shun.]

Prince Shun: Well, it is certainly better than anything I could manage.

Princess Yanyu: See!

Zheng: …That’s not saying much. At all.

[The youth stirred their congee around a bit, thoughtfully.]

Zheng: It’s definitely not bad, but it’s a little on the watery side. Seeing as how we aren’t in a rice famine, it would’ve been fine to be less stingy with rice.

Princess Yanyu:…I should’ve went with eight cups.

Zheng: But it’s fine. This is the consistency I’d make for myself if I was making it with my own rice I had to buy.

[Zheng set the serving bowl of congee next to a plate containing two youtiao. A small saucer filled with soy sauce was placed to the side.]

Princess Yanyu: You got to try the congee, but how do we know if the youtiao is any good?

Zheng: …The two of you are just hungry, aren’t you?

[The youth picked up the last youtiao left on the cooling rack — a piece that looked a little less perfect than the others, and tore it in half for the royal siblings.]

Zheng: This is definitely what having kids is like.

[Finally, after a long while, Prince Zel speaks up to get their attention.]

Prince Zel: It’s ready! Sorry for the wait!

[The team turns to see the three dishes on the table. On the left is some bacon and eggs that looks simple yet inviting. In the middle lies a plate of pasta. The vegetable leaves on top of the pasta form a smiley face. On the same plate, there’s a small slice of blueberry pie. The last is a strange looking dish — slices of fish meat with tomato, potatoes and cheese on top, and lettuce decorating the side of the plate.]

Prince Zel: If possible, I’d like Chase to try the breakfast — the bacon and eggs. The pasta for Ambrosia as lunch, and the fish for Night as dinner.

Princess Charming: No objections from me. But I do have a question — what exactly is that last dish?

[Prince Zel chuckles with a sort of childish mischief.]

Prince Zel: That’s for me to know and… well, for Night to find out.

Princess Charming: Well, we better hurry. Can’t keep them waiting for too long. Why don’t each of you carry one dish, and we will bring it over to the judges?

[The princes immediately scramble for their favorite dish so they can be the one to present it to the judge. Prince Zel lunges for the pasta, while Prince Mer instantly grabs the bacon and eggs. Prince Snow frowns down at the strange nameless dish he’s left with and holds it gingerly.]

Princess Charming: Follow me.

Prince Shun: We should begin working on lunch now. I have already cut up the radish, as well as the various vegetables and meats for the fried rice.

Zheng: Okay. You can help me with the radish cake first, since we’ll have to wait for the rice to be cooked first. Yanyu, do you need help with the rice?

Princess Yanyu: I’m fine! It’s just rice.

Zheng: Try not to make it too watery this time. It’s passable for congee, but not so much for steamed rice.

Princess Yanyu: Well, won’t the extra water evaporate when you fry it? Supposing… it did end up a bit watery…?

Zheng: …Don’t rely on that too much.

[Princess Charming’s team heads over to where the hosts await with Princess Charming in the lead. When she’s in front of them, she smiles graciously with an air of confidence.]

Princess Charming: Greetings. My apologies for the delay. We are now ready for the judging.

[Princess Charming motions for the princes to put the dishes in front of the hosts they are intended for. Obediently, they do so. As Prince Snow places the dish in front of Night, he couldn’t resist sliding his gaze towards Ambrosia and flashing her a charming grin.

Snow’s smile catches her off guard. At first, she doesn’t even realize that it’s for her until she does a double take. Ambrosia takes a second to glance over her shoulder, looking to see whether anyone’s standing there, and finds only the wall staring back at her.

She returns Snow’s smile once before gazing away from him with a faint dusting of color in her cheeks. Catching sight of that, Princess Charming rolls her eyes and gives Night an apologetic smile that somehow seems a little flirtatious still. At Princess Charming’s smile, Night’s eyes seem to twinkle – perhaps with amusement? Noticing this little exchange, Wildfire raises a single brow.

Observing Snow and Ambrosia’s interaction, Arsenik doesn’t quite frown, but his smile is no longer present on his face. On the other hand, Wind rears a rather piercing glare in Snow’s direction.

All the while, Prince Zel is blushing furiously and keeping his eyes firmly on the ground as he presents the pasta to Ambrosia. With her gaze settled on him, her shoulders relaxes, and she gives him a reassuring smile that might have gone unnoticed if his eyes were still glued to the ground. Prince Mer simply smiles before bowing politely.]

Princess Charming: The bacon and eggs is for breakfast, while the pasta is for lunch. The remaining dish is for dinner. Our theme for the meals is “Mother’s cooking.” Please, enjoy.

[Blissfully ignorant of all these subtle exchanges, Chase beams at Mer and then Princess Charming.]

Chase: Thanks, Princess. I’m sure I will.

[He digs in at once. Naturally, he’s the first one to speak his mind about it.]

Chase: This is good. I really like the crunchy thing.

[At his choice of words, Ambrosia giggles into a hand.]

Ambrosia: Yes, it does seem quite appetizing.

Chase: How are you liking yours?

Ambrosia: Very much so! I’m rather taken by the taste and with the fascinating way it melts in your mouth.

[She smiles at the group.]

Ambrosia: I can tell you put quite a bit of effort and love into it!

Wildfire: Oh, wow. This isn’t a picnic! Come on. Hurry up and rate it already.

Chase: Uh…I would happy to have it again. So, maybe…four, five stars?

Wildfire: Well, is it four or is it five?

Arsenik: Or four and a half. Thanks to you, that is an option.

Wildfire: Oh, shut up.

Chase: Four. Ish. Maybe five?

Wildfire: Are you serious? Just flip a coin.

Chase: Five. Let’s go with that.

Wildfire: Pushover.

Ambrosia: Mm…to tell you the truth, the sweet blueberry pie really won me over. I believe I shall assign it four stars.

Wildfire: Are you sure it wasn’t Prince Snow’s smile that won you over?

Ambrosia: Why, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Lady Wildfire.

Wind: He’s as pale as a ghost. I don’t think he could even win over a donkey.

Ambrosia: Oh! Sir Wind, you’re sounding quite irritable. That does tend to happen when you’re hungry. Perhaps, you would like a bite of this pie?

Wind: I already ate earlier, remember? It’s not my fault that he looks sickly. And that you have less brains than a donkey.

Wildfire: Night, you’re the last one. Hurry up and rate it.

Night: I’ll give it…3 stars.

Wildfire: Okay then.

Arsenik: And the theme of it?

Chase: Seems kind of fitting to me? I mean, it’s not what my mom ever made. She, uh, she made much heartier meals.

Ambrosia: Ah, well, it’s hard to say. Honestly, it didn’t make me think of a mother’s warmth but –

Wildfire: No but’s! You said your piece.

Night: Let’s say the theme receives 3 stars.

Wildfire: There you have it.

[She comes to a jarring pause.]

Arsenik: That adds up to 15 stars, Valkyrie.

Wildfire: I knew that.

Arsenik: I’m sure.

Ambrosia: It was an honor to have been chosen as your judges. Thank you for allowing us the pleasure of your fine cuisine. It’s an experience I wouldn’t trade with much else!

Colt: Ow, ow, ow!

[The rest of them turned to see Colt had cut his finger. Paige covered her mouth to hide her laughter while Blake was simply exasperated by his ineptitude. Jordan offered Colt a paper towel while snickering himself.]

Colt: It slipped! You guys are mean!

Blake: For heaven’s sakes, I’ll do it. Go sit down, string bean.

Zheng: Alright! That’s the radish cake preparation done. Now to let it steam, and I’ll fry the rice while that’s happening. Shun, watch the steamer.

Prince Shun: Just… Watch it?

Zheng: Well, if it burns, or catches on fire, do something!

[The youth focused their attention to the ingredients for the fried rice.

Blake put a satisfactory crepe onto the plate and handed it along with the filling to Jordan. He cleared off the cutting board and washed it before chopping some fresh strawberry slices.

After placing all the cooked rice into the wok, Zheng added the rest of the ingredients one by one, all the while shaking the wok and stirring to ensure that everything was properly mixed and evenly cooked. Once the rice was done, they swiftly transferred it from the wok to a large plate.]

Bianca: Have you started on our lunch dish yet?

Cecil: I, um, actually haven’t started yet.

[His ears droop a little.]
Bianca: It’s okay. We didn’t really figure anything specific out for it, but… uh, I guess I can help now that my hands are free.
Cecil: Ah, i-is that really okay?

Bianca: Sure. Um, what kinda sandwich, though… clubhouse seems like it’d be kinda hard, and Ettore is almost done, so…oh!

Cecil: What is it?

Bianca: I think I know what we can do. Uh, wait, backtrack to the pantry real quick and get these…

[As Ettore puts the finishing touches on dinner, the two quickly set out to make lunch.

Meanwhile Prince Shun never strayed from his duty, watching the steamer intently, as the radish cake slowly solidified.

At this point in time, Paige filled her sandwich with three cheeses and set it into the melted butter in the pan causing it to start sizzling.]

Paige: So, what are you making for dinner?

Blake: Chicken Caprese. It’s the fanciest dinner I can think of.

Paige: You really need to cook for me when we get back home. It’s sort of unfair that complete strangers get to eat your food before I do.

Blake: If that sandwich gets a better score than my food, I’ll cook you a four course meal, girly.

Paige: Oh, you are going to regret making that bet. You have no idea how good my grilled cheese is.

Zheng: Done!

[Without waiting for any prompting, Princess Yanyu had already taken a slice of radish cake.]

Princess Yanyu: It’s quite… chunky, isn’t it?

Zheng: What do you mean?

Princess Yanyu: The radish cakes we had at the palace had a much smoother consistency than this. I hope this doesn’t cost us any points…

Zheng: I mean, it’s still a radish cake. And I like my radish cakes to actually taste like, y’know, they have radish in them, not just some paste.

Princess Yanyu: Suit yourself. I think a smooth consistency is much nicer.

Zheng: Well, I think chunky radish cakes are perfectly fine.

Prince Shun: Radish cakes are just one of those dishes that every household in Nantu has their own unique way of preparing. Let us just hope that the judge shares Zheng’s fondness for chunky radish cakes, rather than smooth. …Which, by the way, is superior.

Zheng: Excuse me, part of the reason we ended up making chunky radish cakes — other than the fact that they are just plain good — is that I don’t exactly trust you with grating a radish. Who knows, you might grate a thumb.

[Prince Shun clears his throat slightly before arranging slices of radish cake on a plate, next to a bowl of fried rice, in an attempt to drop the conversation.]

Prince Shun: That is it for lunch, then, I suppose.

[Blake seasoned a chicken breast before laying into his pain. He also added some tomatoes and basil. However, when he reached over to grab the shredded mozzarella to lay on top of the chicken to bake it on top, the bowl was no longer there. Blake turned to find Colt eating the cheese by the fistful.]

Blake: What. Are. You. Doing?

[Colt slowly put the bowl back down again like a naughty child that had just been caught.]

Zheng: We’re in the final stretch! Dinner!

[They made a show of rolling up their sleeves, but those have already been tied up.]

Zheng: I’ll handle the vegetables, tofu, fish, and my special dessert. Yanyu, please prepare the rice, and brew the tea. I’ll trust you in choosing a suitable type of tea.

Princess Yanyu: Okay! Leave it to me!

Prince Shun: I’ve already sliced up the garnishes for the fish!

Zheng: Er, well…

[They looked around the cooking area quickly in desperation.]

Zheng: Here, slice up this preserved egg and ginger.

[While Paige was in the process of putting her grilled cheese and fries on the plate for Jordan to work with, Blake called to her]

Blake: I need some more mozzarella and a bottle of red wine.

Paige: Oh, of course, do you need the wine for a sauce or something?

[Blake removed the cork from the bottle with his teeth and spit it aside before taking a long swig of the wine.]

Blake: You might want to get the superstar away from me before I smash this over his head.

Paige: Heheh, Colt, why don’t we go help Jordan.

[Colt didn’t argue. However, Jordan had everything well under control on his end. He drizzled chocolate syrup over the perfectly positioned cream cheese crepe and strawberries.]

Paige: Wow, Jordan, that looks amazing. Like straight off one of those restaurant commercials.

Jordan: T-Thanks.

Colt: Of all the stupid challenges, it had to be cooking. Why couldn’t it be shooting or a race?

Zheng: The main highlight of dinner! Have you ever seen such a fine catch? And cooked so well, might I add!

[They presented a garoupa, steamed to perfection, to the two royals.]

Zheng: I’ve got to add a bit more to the sauce, I think, and then the garnishes, but look at it! Admire it! …No taste testing, though. We’re serving the fish whole.

[While the youth turned to tend to the sauces and garnishes, the two royals inspected the fish closely.]

Prince Shun: How peculiar. It seems as though this garoupa is missing a cheek.

Princess Yanyu: Hey, Zheng, isn’t garoupa your favourite food?

Zheng: Yes… Why do you ask?

Prince Shun: I thought we were not to taste test this fish to serve it whole.

Zheng: …Okay, fine. So I ate a cheek. I had to test the consistency!

Zheng:And I’m going to flip it over to the other side when I serve it.

Princess Yanyu: I’m sure that’ll fix it.

Zheng: Don’t you have some tea to brew? I’ve got to work on dessert now.

Princess Yanyu: Please try your best not to eat that!

[Paige found some tape in one of the drawers and helped bandage Colt’s cut finger, calming his little tantrum. Blake handed the finished pieces of the Chicken Caprese to Jordan along with some balsamic vinegar.]

Blake: Put the vinegar on top but don’t go crazy with it.

[Jordan nodded in acknowledgement and plated everything with expertise.]

Zheng: And that’s it for dinner, and the challenge!

[Zheng stood proudly in front of a collection of dishes. A simple starter dish of preserved egg and pickled ginger was followed by a dish of tofu and vegetables in a spicy chili sauce. The star dish, a steamed garoupa, lay in the center of the dishes, covered in an assortment of herbs and garnishes. Rice sat in a pot, ready to be served out by the bowl, and the teapot beside it emitted a pleasant aroma. What caught Princess Yanyu’s attention, however, was the particularly shiny, but otherwise simple-looking dessert sitting in a bowl.]

Princess Yanyu: So what’s this special dessert of yours?

Zheng: I knew you would ask to try it, so I made two.

[They slid a substantially smaller serving of the mysterious dessert towards the Princess.]

Princess Yanyu: Don’t mind if I do!

[She spooned a generous amount of the wiggling dessert into her mouth.]

[…And immediately spat it back out.]

Princess Yanyu: Zheng! I know your upbringing was… unconventional… But didn’t anyone ever tell you desserts are supposed to be sweet? This is bitter!

Zheng: It’s herbal jelly! This one is a secret family recipe. And I’m not going to share it, so don’t ask for it.

Princess Yanyu: Why would I even want to! It’s vile!

Zheng: It’s good for you! There’s about 80 different medicinal herbs in there. Not to mention, it has cooling properties, which perfectly offset all the heat in the dishes we’ve chosen for dinner. Egg? Hot peppers? Fish? Beans? That’s far too much yang, you’d get sick. Herbal jelly is yin, so it works out!

Princess Yanyu: Your stupid dessert is going to cost us the win!

Prince Shun: …Perhaps we could add some honey, to sweeten it?

[The Prince handed the Princess a small cup filled with honey, which she drizzled generously all over her serving of the black jelly. She cautiously took a second bite — smaller, this time — and managed to keep it down. A good sign.]

Princess Yanyu: Well, I guess… It’s better.

[She ate another bite.]

Zheng: You’re such a child. The jelly is fine on it’s own.

Prince Shun: Honey also possesses cooling properties, so I think it is a suitable addition to your dessert. It retains the health benefits, but it is more… palatable. This is the best course of action if we want to win.

Zheng: …I suppose. Hey, who knew you could actually be kind of helpful with this?